International Street Food Festival at L-14, by Renaissance Lucknow

Hey loves, what's happening? Is it just me or you too are excited about the fact that the weather in Lucknow has taken a drastic turn and cold waves have hit Northern India once again. Its been raining heavily here and the climate has become delightful with a hint of romanticism! People are planning long drives and enjoying. And, amidst that, the all day dining restaurant at L-14, Renaissance Lucknow Hotel has this on-going INTERNATIONAL STREET FOOD FESTIVAL welcoming foodies, giving them a chance to dig into global cuisine from India, U.S., China, Thailand, Mexico, Italy and the Middle East for dinner!

For many of you who keep asking me if I get bored going to the same restaurant again and again, let me tell you what keeps me getting back here is the newness and the innovation the F&B team at the hotel offers each time! LIVE food stations is just one of the many things I experienced this time, where you see the appetite for good food, cooked with passion and authenticity with the wide spread of the ingredients that offers you to choose your favorites, and for anyone who loves everything customised, its going to be really exciting for you!

STARTERS

The map (you see in the picture above) displays all the food stations as placed at the restaurant to help you find your favorite cuisine. Starting from the CHAAT COUNTER, which included everything that I could find at any random chaat hawker across the streets in town, but displayed in a much more beautiful setup with all hygienic contents. I tried the Paani Puri in 4 different flavoured water, along with Aloo Tikki, Matar Chaat, Aloo Chaat and Bhel Puri. All items served in recycled structured donas (banana leaf bowls) to keep the authenticity of the Indian culture as best known for reviving the age-old eco-friendly culinary traditions!

Around the world street food is one of the biggest, most loved, yet most unstructured culinary cultures. My second stop was the SOUP STATION where they served Soup with a variety of condiments and offered to choose between fried and boiled noodles, assorted veggies and types of breads! And, amongst other starters, I had some Nachos and Pita Bread with Salsa and Dips from the Mexican cuisine, and really yummy vegetarian Sushi rolled with rice, herbs and spices from Japan.

Asian Soup Station

Mexican Station - Nachos & Pita

Japanese Station - Sushi

MAIN COURSE

With variations within regions and cultures, street food vending is found across the world. Sold by vendors and peddlers, chief characteristics of street food is that it is reasonably priced and flavoured and easily available! And for all of you who might be thinking why would one go to a 5-star hotel to eat the same food that's available on the streets in less than half of the price, guys I feel you should know that there is much diversity in the raw materials as well as in the preparation techniques of dishes, which is much hygienic and healthier. 

The MONGOLIAN COUNTER opposite to the bar in the restaurant had an array of stuffed and regular Pasta including raviolis, spaghetti, bucatini, fusilli, fettuccine, etc. I ordered for some spaghetti in red sauce and assorted vegetables and it was indeed a lovely sight watching them prepare for me LIVE! From the ASIAN COUNTER, I picked some Veg Shawarma that was filled with some sauce and vegetables which of course was a very simple dish and tasted just regular salad in pita. Also, some Green Thai Curry, Gobhi Kebabs, Beetroot Kebabs, Momos, and Side Vegetables sauted and fried on the authentic Indian tawa. And one thing that came as a surprise was the Kottu Paratha from the SRI LANKAN CUISINE. Its basically a kottu roti chopped into waves and fried, served with vegetable curry or eggs, and tasted delcious!

Mongolian Counter - Pasta

Spaghetti in Red Sauce

Veg Shawarma

Thai Green Curry

Momos from Dehradun

Asian Counter

Garlic Butter Sauce Veggies, Garlic Mash Potato, Gobhi Ki Shami, Nawabi Chukandar 

Tawa Sabz

Srilankan Counter - Kottu Paratha

DESSERTS

Renaissance Hotel is a chalk full of desserts, and its vast array of options make it difficult to decide which ones to indulge in. At the on-going International Street Food Festival, you will get to discover the top delicious sweet dishes from different corners of the world that will win not only your heart but also your soul! 

At the restaurant, the CREPE STATION attracts you with the LIVE setup where you can opt for your favorite sweet condiments (chocolate bars/choco chips/brownies) that will be rolled into your crepe and layered with maple/chocolate/strawberry syrup, or honey. I chose chocolate brownie with strawberry syrup and it tasted exemplary! Next at the Dessert Theatre is a wide layout of Fresh Fruit Cakes, Truffle Pastries, Fruit Savarin, Baked Yogurt, Choco Tart, Strawberry Buns, etc. All in all, you cannot go without digging into each one even if its just a bite!

Crepe Station

Strawberry Choux Bun

Baked Yogurt, Chocolate Hazelnut Tart

Fresh Fruit Savarin, Fruit Cake, Chocolate Truffle Pastry 

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I hope you liked going through this post. Don't forget to share it across and let people know that the International Street Food Festival is running up till 12th March, 2017 so you can go there and experience it yourself. Tip : Take the entire family along! INR 1350+ taxes per head. Make bookings HERE.

Photographed by : Azman Khan

~xoxo~